Christmas At The Campells'
by HarryPotterTNGfan
Summary: "One day I will come back." Today is that day. (Says Doctor & Susan, but also includes Sarah Jane Smith!)
1. Chapter 1

A peculiar sound rippled through a dark field as a mysterious blue box appeared, flattening the frosted grass beneath it. It seemed very primitive and out of place compared to the tall buildings and skyscrapers that could be seen from a city nearby.

Suddenly, the door on the box was opened, and out stepped the Doctor. He sported a thick brown jacket, hat, and, most prominently, a large, multicolored scarf. Behind him came Sarah Jane Smith clad in an unzipped white coat, a blue blouse and jean pants. Standing next to him and shading her eyes toward the bright city in the distance, the sun setting behind the tip of one of the buildings, she asked, "So this is it, is it, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded, mirroring Sarah as he looked toward the city. "I believe so."

Sarah, who noticed that he had not sounded completely confident in that answer, said, "You are sure, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course I am! It's just that it looked very different the last time I was here."

"Where is here, exactly?"

"London. December, 2184 AD."

"London?" said Sarah incredulously. "It doesn't look very much like the London I know anymore."

"Well, it goes through a lot of changes in two hundred years. A lot of changes." The Doctor said the last part more to himself than to Sarah. She looked up at him, slightly concerned, then the Doctor said, "Right. Come along, then, Sarah." The two of them walked off toward London, leaving the TARDIS behind.

By the time the Doctor and Sarah reached the city, the sun had already set, so as the two of them walked through the streets, it was not as busy as it normally would have been during the day. Sarah shivered a bit in the cold as she stared fascinated at the futuristic-looking cars and large advertisement screens on the tall buildings as they passed. The Doctor took no notice of these things, too preoccupied with his own thoughts. Finally, Sarah asked, "Where exactly are we going, Doctor? You didn't make it very clear when you explained earlier."

The Doctor didn't answer straight away, and Sarah thought he hadn't heard her. She was about to ask again when he stopped abruptly, nearly causing her to walk into him. "Have I ever told you about my family, Sarah?"

"No," said Sarah, slightly surprised. "You never really talk about yourself at all, to tell you the truth." She had noticed this about the Doctor. He was _always_ talking. But he had never actually_ talked _before. At least not to Sarah Jane.

Then the Doctor pulled her aside and began to tell her about his family. Well, at least some of his family. He mentioned that he had a brother and a mother and a father - the usual group one would expect to hear about. But what he talked about mostly was what interested Sarah Jane the most. He talked about his granddaughter. Susan was her name.

Now, of course Sarah had known that the Doctor was older than he appeared. She had known him looking older than he looked now. But it had never even occurred to her before that he had settled down with a wife and children and let alone grandchildren at some point before they met. Not the Doctor! But of course he would never have just lied about it all to her, so she believed him, and listened as he told her the reason why they were in London in 2184.

"You told Susan you would come back one day?" was her response after he had finished.

"And today's the day."

"But why today?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, Christmas Day does seem like the day to do these things, does it not?

"Hold on. It's Christmas Day?" Dates sometimes get scrambled up in your head when you travel in a time machine.

"In about...two hours it will be, yes," said the Doctor, checking a nonexistent watch on his wrist. And he grinned. Taking Sarah's hand in his, he said, "I'm sorry. I haven't said; Happy Christmas Eve!" and he lead Sarah away, along the many houses that she now realized had decorations hanging on their doors as a light snow began to fall down on them.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah followed the Doctor patiently through the streets of London. They had been searching for at least a couple hours; asking the few people out and about if the names 'Susan' or 'David Campbell' sounded familiar. Most said no. Some recognized the names. No one knew where either lived. The Doctor was optimistic, though, because at least he knew that they still lived right where he had left them all that time ago. Sarah, however, was getting impatient. Yes, she wanted the Doctor to be reunited with his granddaughter, but at the same time she wanted to be inside after walking outside, at night, in the middle of winter for what was going on two hours. And the light, beautiful snow the two of them had been admiring before had suddenly turned on them and became quite a heavy precipitation. Shivering a bit, she looked up and down the street with the Doctor, searching for another lone pedestrian, and hoping that the next person they found might know where the Campbells lived.

"Look, Doctor," she whispered a moment later, pointing ahead of them to a man walking up a street adjacent to them. "Why don't we ask him?"

The Doctor nodded briskly, then lead the way to the next street, where they approached the man.

"Merry Christmas," said the Doctor in greeting, wearing a large, friendly grin.

"And to you too," said the man politely in return, although eyeing his attire with raised eyebrows. When the Doctor and Sarah continued to stand there, he added, "Er, may I help you?"

"Yes, well, you see, my companion and I," said the Doctor, placing a hand on Sarah's head as he spoke. "We are visiting some relatives of ours in town, and we got a bit lost. We were wondering if you possibly know where Susan or David Campbell live?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," answered the man, and he pointed up along the street that joined the two they had met on, Fifth Street, and continued, "They live...four doors down that way, on the left. I work with David, you see. Nice fellow. A family man. But of course, you would know all about that."

"A compliment I appreciate nontheless. Thank you for your time." The Doctor shook the kind man's hand, then Sarah did as well before they both parted ways with him for Fifth Street. The Campbells' street.

* * *

Sarah could sense the Doctor's giddiness to reach the Campbell's house as he pulled her along by the wrist down the street, barely stopping when she nearly slipped on an ice patch. Reaching the fourth house on Fifth Street, Sarah began to walk toward the door, only to be steered in a different direction by the Doctor, who fled to crouch down by the side of the front steps, which hid them from the door and the window directly above them.

"What's wrong?" asked Sarah, not sure why she was whispering.

"I can't do it." said the Doctor bitterly, tugging at his scarf as he sat on the pavement.

"Why not?" said Sarah, looking down at him, taken aback. She had never heard those words come out of the Doctor before.

"I was just thinking...what if she doesn't want me to come back?"

"Why in the world would she not want that?"

"What if I only unsettle things? What if she is living a happy life, and all I do is upset her again, like before, and ruin everything for her? What if she...what if she forgot about me?"

Sarah blinked. She was speechless. She had never seen the Doctor so unsure of himself before. Finally, she said, "Of course she didn't forget about you, Doctor! She's your granddaughter! For all you know, she has spent the last twenty Christmases sitting at the dinner table with a plate set right next to hers, hoping that you would come for dinner, and she has no idea that this Christmas will be the Christmas that seat will finally be filled!"

The Doctor's eyes glistened, and he cracked a smile. For a while, they were silent, then suddenly a bell sounded from somewhere above them. A church bell. It was midnight.

"Christmas Day," observed the Doctor, meeting Sarah's eyes. He still did not move.

Okay, tell you what," said Sarah, kneeling down on the cold pavement and putting her hands on his shoulders, in much the same way he did to her sometimes. "Susan is probably asleep right now. So maybe it would be best if we just - "

Sarah's sentence was cut short when she noticed a light flicker on above her. Both she and the Doctor looked up. Someone was awake in the Campbell house.

Slowly, the Doctor and Sarah stood to look through the window, just tall enough that Sarah had to stand on her toes to see properly. Through the window, they could see a den with a large, beautiful Christmas tree next to a large, beautiful chimney. On a couch across from this sat a little boy, about the age of seven, staring gleefully at the chimney with wide eyes and hair tousled from sleep. On a side table next to him sat a picture, which from the window the Doctor could see three people in it; the boy currently sitting on the couch, a man who was obviously his father, standing with his right arm around the boy's shoulder, the left around the waist of who was clearly his wife. And the Doctor knew who the little boy was.

"Alex?" came a stern female voice from somewhere outside the den. "Alex, are you down here?"

The boy's eyes widened, and he searched the room for a place to hide, but it was too late. His mother had found him.

Standing in the threshold to the room was a woman of about forty with black hair and crossed arms.

"Doctor..." whispered Sarah without taking her eyes from the two people, whose backs were to them. "Is that...?"

"Susan," whispered the Doctor, saying the word slowly, as if to feel it on his lips.

"Why are you not in bed, Alex?" continued Susan, standing over her son in a nightgown.

"Because I'm not tired!" responded Alex, mimicking his mother by crossing his arms as well.

"You know what I think?" said Susan, taking a seat on the couch next to her son. "I think you were trying to stay up to see Father Christmas when he comes down the chimney."

Alex responded with a stifled yawn.

"Well, as I am sure you know, my dear, Father Christmas won't come until everyone is asleep in the house. And you know as well as anyone that he has such a busy schedule. Do you want to leave him waiting?"

Alex shook his head.

"Then I suggest you go up to bed. And quickly, so he can bring you your presents!"

Alex sighed a typical seven-year-old sigh of defeat and said, "Yes, mum," before standing up. Susan tapped his nose before he did as he was told and went to bed.

When she was alone, Susan sighed as well, then yawned and stood up. She turned around to shut off the lamp, then froze when something caught her eye.

With a quick reflex, the Doctor pushed Sarah's head below the window, his following close behind. He sat on the cold pavement, half of him praying Susan had not see them, and half of him hoping that she had.

Finally, the light from the den vanished, which meant that Susan Campbell had gone to bed. Sarah sighed in relief. She looked over at the Doctor and gasped, not expecting what she saw.

The Doctor. Truly, properly crying. Right there on Fifth Street at 12:06 in the morning, and with Sarah Jane as a witness.

"Doctor!" said Sarah in shock. She couldn't help it. She had never even thought Time Lords had the ability to cry, given what she knew about the Doctor and his race.

The Doctor immediately wiped away the tears, and no more fell after that. And Sarah felt terrible for reacting the way she did. "I'm sorry. I just didn't expect it." She smiled a bit, trying to create a lighter tone.

"Don't apologize."

"That boy...was he your...?"

"Grandson? Yes. Well, great-grandson, to be precise." A few moments passed, then the Doctor said, more to himself than to Sarah, "Great grandson! Oh, Susan, you're all grown up. You don't need me anymore." He said this very quietly.

Sarah realized suddenly the real reason why the Doctor came to see Susan. It wasn't because he wanted to catch up with her and David, or because he wanted to keep his vow that he would return one day. It was not even to let her know that he was even still alive. No, the real reason the Doctor came was just to see her face. Just to know for sure that she was safe, well, and happy. And for the Doctor, that was enough.

* * *

After an involuntary shiver from Sarah, the Doctor shook himself out of his trance. He obviously realized how long Sarah had been waiting patiently to collect his thoughts, because he directly stood up, then helped Sarah to her feet. He shed his jacket, then draped it over her shoulders, which gave her much more warmth than her fashionable, yet dreadfully thin coat. After fixing the collar so that it was straight, he relaxed his hands on her shoulders and smiled. He then kissed her on the forehead and, patting her cheek, said, "Come on, then. Let's head back to the TARDIS. I'm sure the Brigadier and Harry and everyone else will be expecting us today."

Sarah nodded, and with a final look back at the Campbells' house, they turned and made their way back home.


End file.
